BEIJING, Sept 28 (Reuters) – China said on Monday a two-month extension of a trade truce with the United States would provide space for both sides to evaluate the implementation of their arrangement to resolve economic and trade issues, while considering how to advance on those fronts.
In confirming the extension through to January 10, China’s commerce ministry said it also provides a “relatively stable and predictable policy environment” for cooperation among companies and continued active discussions.
The extension was one of the key takeaways from the second summit this year between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, hosted in Washington last week.
Among the first steps under a trade council that both sides have agreed to form, is to discuss a reciprocal tariff cut on $30 billion of products, aimed at maintaining stable bilateral economic and trade relations.
That would also create better conditions for the export of related Chinese products to the United States, the ministry said in its statement.
The economic and trade teams from both sides will conduct regular dialogues focusing on potential investment opportunities and barriers, enhancing policy transparency and predictability, and responding to reasonable concerns from enterprises, it said.
AGRICULTURE AND COAL
Both countries will also set up an agriculture working group under the trade council, which will hold its first meeting before the year ends to discuss two-way market access and regulation for agricultural products, the statement showed.
The presidential summit also yielded a coal trade agreement for China to import coal from the United States in 2027 and 2028.
“Importing US coal is not only a beneficial supplement to China’s domestic coal market, but also brings stable economic income and employment to the US coal industry,” the Chinese ministry said.
AI, FINANCIAL FIRMS AND DIRECT FLIGHTS
On artificial intelligence, both sides have agreed on a communication channel for incidents and will hold a follow-up dialogue by the end of November.
China will also examine and approve foreign financial services institutions, including those with US capital, to conduct business and open branches in China.
There will also be continued communication on increasing flights between China and the United States, the ministry statement said.
(Reporting by Liz Lee and Shanghai newsroom; and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Jacqueline Wong)
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